Three Development Trends Of Thermoplastic Carbon Fiber Applications

Three Development Trends Of Thermoplastic Carbon Fiber Applications

With the continuous expansion of the application market, thermosetting resin-based carbon fiber composite materials gradually show their own limitations, and they cannot fully meet the needs of high-end applications in terms of wear resistance and high temperature resistance.

Under this circumstance, the status of thermoplastic resin-based carbon fiber composite materials hasgradually risen, becoming an emerging force in advanced composite materials.

In recent years, China's domestic carbon fiber technology has achieved rapid development, and the application technology of thermoplastic carbon fiber composite materials has also been further promoted.

Three trends in the application of thermoplastic carbon fiber are vividly demonstrated in the exploration of continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic prepreg:

1.the development from powder carbon fiber reinforcement to continuous carbon fiber reinforcement

Carbon fiber thermoplastic composite materials can be divided into powder carbon fiber, chopped carbon fiber, 

sunidirectional continuous carbon fiber and fabric carbon fiber reinforcement according to the form of reinforcing fiber.

When the composite material encounters bending or shear failure, there is a process of fiber pulling out of the matrix. The longer the reinforcing fiber, the more energy provided by the external load absorbed when pulling out, and the higher the overall strength of the composite material. Therefore, compared with powder or chopped carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material, continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material has better performance advantages. The most widely used injection molding process in China still adopts powder or chopped carbon fiber reinforced form, and the performance of the product has certain limitations. When continuous carbon fiber reinforced form is used, thermoplastic carbon fiber composite materials will usher in a wider application space.

2. Development from low-end thermoplastic resin to mid-to-high-end thermoplastic resin matrix

The thermoplastic resin matrix exhibits high viscosity characteristics during the melting process. 

This high viscosity resin matrix is usually difficult to fully infiltrate the carbon fiber material, and the degree of infiltration is closely related to the performance of the prepreg. 

In order to further improve the degree of infiltration, composite material modification technology is adopted, and the original fiber spreading device and resin extrusion equipment are improved. While extending the width of the carbon fiber strands, the continuous extrusion volume of the resin is increased. The infiltration effect of the thermoplastic resin on the carbon fiber is obviously improved, and the performance of the continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic prepreg is effectively guaranteed. Successfully extended the resin matrix of continuous carbon fiber thermoplastic composites from low-end thermoplastic resins such as PPS and PA to mid-to-high-end resins such as PI and PEEK.

3. From hand-made in the laboratory to stable mass production

From the successful small-scale experiment in the laboratory to the stable mass production in the workshop, the most critical thing is the design and adjustment of production equipment. Whether continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic prepreg can achieve stable mass production depends not only on the average daily output, but also the more important measurement criterion is whether the quality of the prepreg is stable, that is, whether the resin content in the prepreg is controllable and the proportion is appropriate , To see if the carbon fibers in the prepreg are evenly distributed and thoroughly infiltrated, and to see if the prepreg has a smooth surface and precise dimensions. In order to have both "quality" and "quantity", Wuxi Zhishang New Material has gone through three years and passed hundreds of thousands of adjustments before reaching the ultimate goal of stable mass production. The current mass-produced continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic prepreg has a width of 40-60 cm.

Source from New Material Daily